Jeffrey Farnol was one of the best selling authors of the mid-1900s. His swashbuckling style, mixing a healthy dose of romance with adventure and humour, had several imitators, among them the inimitable Georgette Heyer. Only a few of his books are available on the net. Here is a fairly detailed bibliography, with links to ebooks, wherever available.
1. The Broad Highway, A romance of Kent. Nov 1910
2. The Money Moon, A romance of today. Nov 1911: An American crushed by love deals with his heartbreak by setting out on a walking tour of England. The people he meets on his simultaneously amusing & suspenseful journey
invariably parallels the Elizabethan characters of his his better known books. The tale was adapted as a silent film in 1920, directed by Fred Paul & starring Stella Meryvn Campbell & Gordon Craig.
3. The Amateur Gentleman, A romance of the Regency. March 1913. The story of Barnabas Barty, son of John Barty, former champion boxer of England and landlord of a pub in Kent. At the start of the tale Barnabas comes into possession of a vast fortune and determines to become a gentleman. His father objects, they quarrel, and settle their differences in a round of fisticuffs which Barnabas wins fair and square, whereupon Barnabas sets off for London to make his place in society -- and discover romance!
4. The Honourable Mr. Tawnish. Oct 1913: Set in "the rollicking days of the eighteenth century," & based on events in the life of Jeffery's brother Ewart who died in the Boer War. Adapted as a play in 1924.
5. Chronicles of the Imp, My Lady Caprice. March 1915: it is through an "Imp" of a boy that Mr. Farnol fascinates his reader with memories of Robin Hood & other knights of old, bringing his story in a quaint manner to a most happy ending.
6. Beltane the Smith, A mediaeval romance. Oct 1915:A tale of knightly valor & chivalry set in medieval England, vaguely but approximately the 13th Century. The son of a duke was raised in a forest sanctuary never being told of his heritage. Young Beltane, growing up in the care of Ambrose the Hermit, knows naught of men and women and teeming cities, but one day a mysterious stranger appears, presenting Beltane with a sword and giving him daily lesson in sword play and horsemanship. Lady Helen of Mortain, as she rides thorough the greenwood, meets Beltane and here is the first love scene - indeed the love interest is one of the strongest notes in this remarkable novel.
7. The Definite Object, A romance of New York. Sept 1917: a vigorous tale of New York's "Hell's Kitchen," drawing on Jeffery's personal experiences while in America. A bored millionaire poses as safecracker "Gentleman George" in this crime-comedy set in New York's Hell's Kitchen.
8. Our Admirable Betty, An early Georgian Story Oct 1918
9. The Geste of Duke Jocelyn, A romance in Verse and prose. Dec 1919: A gorgeous book of medieval romance & chivalry told in prose, blank verse, & rhyme.
10. Black Bartlemy's Treasure, A stirring pirate story. Sept 1920. Buccaneers on the Spanish Main in the middle of the 17th Century.
11. Martin Conisby's Vengeance, Continues Black Bartlemy's adventures. Sept 1921. Sequel to Black Bartlemy's Treasure. A truly classic pirate tale of the Spanish Main, featuring even a female pirate, Captain Jo. Martin Conisby, embittered by his five years of slavery on the Spanish galleon Esmeralda, escapes during a sea fight and makes his way back to England, determined to avenge himself on Richard Brandon, who was the cause of his father's death and his own ill-treatment. Broken in body and spirit, he arrives home just in time to save from the hands of robbers a beautiful girl, Lady Jane Brandon, the daughter of the man whom he has sworn to punish. In a tavern he meets a pal, Adam Penfeather, who tells him the story of Black Bartlemy, an infamous pirate, and his treasure buried on an island--treasure of fabulous value that has been the dream and hope of roving adventurers along the Spanish Main for many years.
12. Peregrine's Progress, In the author's original vein. Sept 1922: Set in the early 18th Century, it features Peregrine Vereker, who in the eyes of his aunt Julia, who brought him up to the mature age of nineteen, was a polished young gentleman, an incipient artist and poet. In the opinion of his two uncles he was an ignorant mollycoddle, a ladylike nincompoop, unacquainted with manliness. Stung by their scorn, Peregrine ''ran away'' as many a lad before and since, to learn the world and prove his worth, and ran the gamut of happiness and misery, of fear and courage, of loneliness and love before he matched up to the requirements of his two uncles. Jasper Shrig puts in a notable appearance. Made up of three connected tales, a novel, a novellette, & a short story: The Silent Places' "Shadow" and "Dawn."
13. Sir John Dering, A romantic Comedy. Sept 1923: A thrilling adventure of old Sussex, one of Farnol's best.
14. The Loring Mystery, A mystery story of "Merry England!". Feb 1925. A swashbuckling "cloak-&-sword" murder mystery featuring Regency era detective Jasper Shrig, investigating a Sussex murder.
15. The High Adventure, Another intiguing mystery story. Aug 1926: A swashbuckling & pugelistic adventure in the same Georgian era & locations as The Broad Highway, with the series detective figure Jasper Shrig putting in an appearance.
16. The Quest of Youth, A story of the Open Road. Sept. 1927: Adventures on the woods & highroads of old Sussex, of a world-weary man successfully recapturing some of the wonder & glory he experienced when young, & falling for a Quaker maiden. The Sussex woods & roads convey all the charm of his best work. Regency era detective Jasper Shrig puts in an appearance, too.
17. Epics of the Fancy, A vision of Old Fighters. March 1928: A collection of essays romanticising pugilism from days of the Roman gladiators to Jack Dempsy, & many in between.
18. Gyfford of Weare, A romance of Sussex. Sept. 1928: Set in early 18th Century Sussex. The swashbuckling & romantic adventures of Sir Richard Guyyford & Lady D'Arcy, the reigning beauty of her era. Sir Richard first meats Lady D'Arcy when she is attempting to burgle his residence. Their mutual misdeads & clashing spots rather complicating a rollicking affair. Not as often encountered as some of Farnol's best sellers, but one of the best of the less seen titles.
19. The Shadow , And other Stories. March 1929
20. Another Day, A modern mystery. Nov. 1929: A wealthy young New Yorker, believing himself guilty of murder, flees to England.
21. Over the Hills, A romance of the Fifteen. Oct. 1930: The foundling Adam Thursday & the beautiful Barbara MacGregory in Jacobite Scotland.
22. Jade of Destiny, An Elizabethan Romance. Oct. 1931. Tudor England; plots against Queen Bess.
23. Charmian, Lady Vibart, A romance of Paris. Sept. 1932: A shorter version was serialized in four parts a year earlier in Colliers Magazine under the title Silent Weapon. A regency swashbuckler featuring some of the same characters from The Broad Highway, set twenty years later, with Charmian plotting to protect her husband & their son from a notorious duelist. These characters also recur in The Way Beyond.
24. The Way Beyond, In the vein of The Broad Highway. Sept. 1933
25. Winds of Fortune. Sept. 1934 [ aka Winds of Chance in USA ]
26. John o' the Green. Sept. 1935: A Ruritanian fantasy laid in the fictional kingdom of Gerance in a feudal age, with a Robin Hood type hero who undertakes a dangerous mission for his king. Farnol was good friends with Anthony Hope, whose Prisoner of Zenda is set in the original Ruritania.
27. A Pageant of Victory. Sept. 1936: Unusual setting for Farnol, including scenes of the first European encounters with Native Americans in the 1770s. It's a multi-generational epic of the Falconbridge family, fighting for American ideals during the Revolution, the 1860s, & the early 20th Century. Though reprinted often enough to not be entirely difficult to find, fine first editions in dustwrapper are startlingly difficult.
28. A Book for Jane. Feb. 1937
29. The Crooked Furrow. Sept. 1937: The loves & adventures of two Regency period heroes, a farmer & an aristocrat, in London & Sussex. Detective Jasper Shrig also puts in an appearance. There's a sequel, The Happy Harvest.
30. The Lonely Road. Sept. 1938: A brave young Jacobite in days of the rebellion is pitted against a vicous baronet.
31. The Happy Harvest. Sept. 1939: Swashbuckling "cloak-&-sword" Regency era murder mystery, featuring series character Jasper Shrig. It is a sequel to The Crooked Farrow.
32. New Book for Jane. Nov. 1939
33. A Matter of Business. Jan. 1940
34. Adam Penfeather. Oct. 1940 last page of the manuscript.
35. Murder by Nail. April, 1942
36. The King Liveth. Oct. 1943: Medieval romance.
37. The Piping Times. July 1945: Tale of rural England & the stations along the 'Pilgrim's Way' through Sussex, Devonshire & Cornwall.
38. Heritage Perilous. Nov. 1946: Swashbuckling adventures of a young mariner set shortly after the death of Admiral Nelson. There is a sequel, My Lord of Wybourne.
39. My Lord of Wrybourne. Sept. 1948: Issued in the US as Most Sacred of All. Sequel to Heritage Perilous. A former seafaring man attempts to settle down to a gentrified country life but finds his family threatened by a sworn enemy. Duels & vengeance ensue, in old England.
40. The Fool Beloved. Sept. 1949: A tale of romance & swordplay in old Italy, much in the manner of Sabatini.
41. The Ninth Earl. Sept. 1950: A "cloak-&-sword" swashbuckling murder mystery featuring detective Jasper Shrig. Scarce.
42. The Glad Summer. Sept. 1951: A tale of early Victorian England.
43. Waif of the River. Oct. 1952
44. Justice by Midnight, finished off by his second wife, Phyllis, Feb. 1956: Left unfinished at the time of Jeffery's death, this was completed by his wife Phyllis Farnol. Set in the days of James II, it takes the fair Lady Clarissa Fane to see through the villainous pose of a masked outlaw who has targetted only tyranical aristocrats. Scarce.
45. The privilege of the sex and other stories: by Jeffery Farnol and Pat Bryan. (Limited preview from Google)
